Tourism Prince Rupert Unveils New community Welcome & Wayfinding Signage |
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Update on Tourism Prince Rupert's Community Signage Improvement Project |
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Prince Rupert, February 6th, 2023 - Tourism Prince Rupert is proud to announce the installation of our new wayfinding signage throughout the city, as well as the official new community welcome signs at both entrances off Highway 16. Designed to enhance both the resident and visitor experience, the new signs highlight Prince Rupert's vibrant arts & culture scene by showcasing the work of local artists, as well as the Sm'algyax language of the Ts'msyen People. Tourism Prince Rupert’s Community Signage Improvement Project is in its final stages, with the installation of two new welcome signs at each main entrance to the community off Highway 16 completed over the past week, as well as the installation of new wayfinding and informational signage throughout the downtown and main tourism areas. |
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The new highway welcome signs, designed in collaboration with local artist Russell Mather and the Ts'msyen Sm'algyax Language Authority, have now been installed at each main entrance to the community. The installation of new welcome signs at both official entrances to Prince Rupert aims to not only signal to visitors that we are a vibrant, welcoming community, but also that key economic investments are taking place here and that Prince Rupert is entering a new decade of transformational change. |
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Top: Highway 16 West - Entrance from Galloway Rapids Bridge Bottom: Highway 16 South - Entrance from BC Ferries / Via Rail Terminal |
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We also aim to help both locals and visitors more easily locate key retail, dining, hospitality, and outdoor adventure businesses and attractions in the downtown core, an issue long identified by key tourism stakeholders and visitors alike, by installing new wayfinding signage featuring designs from local artists in key downtown districts and along the Cow Bay waterfront. This new wayfinding signage picks up on the design of the new welcome signs to help visitors find key attractions throughout Prince Rupert, providing detailed information and map illustrations noting distances and other important information. The new wayfinding signage will not only help Prince Rupert’s visitors arriving by air, road, and rail to better navigate the community, but it will also have a particularly strong emphasis for the cruise economy, which has suffered immensely through the COVID-19 pandemic, by improving the walking tour experience for cruise passengers. Our project aimed to improve the visitor experience through the installation of new wayfinding & welcome signage across Prince Rupert and to remove and replace outdated & inconsistent signage. We also aimed to create new paid opportunities for local artists and to display more public art in Prince Rupert’s downtown. Finally, we sought to create new opportunities for the inclusion of Sm’algyax language and Indigenous art in public spaces. The project has been underway since the fall of 2021 and aligns with the Prince Rupert 2030 Vision’s placemaking & downtown improvement strategies. Designed to enhance both the visitor and local resident experience, the new wayfinding signs highlight some of the city's most popular attractions and destinations, while also showcasing the work of talented local artists Chris Fraser, Lucy Trimble, Rod Tasaka, and Kristen McKay. The signs were design in collaboration with Will Creative, and manufactured by Innovative Signage. Over the past week, we have installed the main sign for each district, as well as small informational panels throughout town. |
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Cow Bay & Waterfront District Signage - Artwork by Kristen McKay |
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Midtown District Signage - Artwork by Lucy Trimble |
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Historic Downtown District Signage - Artwork by Chris Fraser |
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Marina District Signage - Artwork by Rod Tasaka |
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With the project in its final stages, we have some work left to do to close out the project. While the large main district signs and small informational panels have been installed, we will need to re-install the Fingerboard posts signs. These were installed shortly before Christmas but after much evaluation were removed to adjust certain welding components on the sign bases, to ensure they can withstand the high winds of the North Coast. We are preparing for the re-installation of this signage shortly. |
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Next, in the spring we will address the excavation work done to install the new highway welcome signs and the downtown wayfinding signage, re-seeding the grass and ensuring the ground surrounding all signage is returned to its' original state. |
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Tourism Prince Rupert would like to thank our partners at the Province of BC, the Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure, the Prince Rupert Port Authority, the Prince Rupert Community Arts Council, and the City of Prince Rupert for their support of this project. We would also like to thank all of the incredible local artists who contributed their work to this project - Chris Fraser, Lucy Trimble, Kristen McKay, Rod Tasaka, and Russell Mather - as well as the Ts’msyen Sm’algyax Language Authority for working so closely with us to include Sm’algyax Language on all signage. Finally, we extend our thanks to Will Creative for their creative design work, to Innovative Signage for their fantastic work fabricating this custom signage, and to the team at Broadwater Industries for all their hard work installing the new signage. Media Contact Ceilidh Marlow Executive Director, Tourism Prince Rupert Phone: 778-361-0440 Address: 481-309 2nd Avenue West, Prince Rupert, BC, V8J 3T1 |
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